“I can see that Preston,” said Sam as she hugged him lightly, careful of his arm and hers.  “We have matching wounds, nasty business being a doc isn’t it?” quipped Sam.

            “Is Derek going to do the surgery?” he asked seriously, seeing that Sam was in some pain, and she kept tapping her thumb to her fingers.

            “Yes, I’m going to get a brand new set of MRI’s and then I think he’s going to head in tomorrow, so one night of freedom left,” grinned Sam.  Grabbing the small bench from the corner and sitting on it, grabbing at Preston’s hand, he took hers, waiting for her to speak again.  “Sorry I haven’t been emailing.”

            “That’s all right, I imagine the last few months have been rather hellish, I’m very sorry for your loss, I’m sure losing your son was difficult,” he said in his always soothing voice.

            “That’s why I came to you, I…  I have something to confess to you, and it’s about Jesse,” said Sam staring at her fingers for a long moment.  Watching Preston’s eyes, getting serious, then he nodded, a deep breath and he knew what she was going to say, he’d suspected for a long time, but had never said anything.  His indiscretion with Sam’s girlfriend had always been a rather sore spot for him, a moment of weakness.  “He was yours.”

            “I had an inkling,” said Preston, licking his handsome lips, “…when I saw a picture of him that you sent when she was borne, but I thought it wasn’t my place to ask.”

            “CJ and I were going to tell you when Jesse was old enough,” said Sam looking down at her hands again.  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, I just couldn’t stand the thought of losing her all over again, or having to share him.”

            “You knew, about us then?” asked Preston softly.

            Sam nodded, “I did, we didn’t hide anything from one another.”

            Preston’s jaw worked, realizing he’d lost a son that he’d never known, but was unable to fault Sam, or CJ in the matter, breaking up a marriage wouldn’t have sat well with him one way or the other.  Shifting on his bed, “I wish I’d known him.”

            “I do too,” said Sam forlornly.  “I’m sor…”

            “No, stop.  I slept with your wife, I completely understand why you didn’t tell me, you wanted to stay together, start fresh,” said Preston sitting up straighter in his bed, rubbing Sam’s good hand with his.

            Sam nodded, wiping a tear from her grey eye, “I knew that it would latch CJ to you forever, and as many people that we slept with, you might very well have been the one that would have torn her away from me,” admitted Sam with a rueful smile.  Preston nodded, remembering the intelligent nurse that CJ had been, swallowing away the tears that brimmed in his eyes.

            “I hope you’ll come visit me, after your surgery?” he asked wanting to be alone for a while, and Sam knew the tone, she’d worked under Preston for over a year, and knew him well enough to know when he was politely asking you to leave. 

            “I will, I should go, before Dr. Shepard gets impatient with me for missing my MRI,” said Sam, leaning in and kissing Preston gently, and he grabbed her neck, kissing her cheek back, blinking back the tears. 

            “Tell Derek to treat you well,” he ordered.

            “He’s scared you’ll kick his ass if he doesn’t succeed, so I think I’ve got it covered, handsome,” winked Sam as she left the room, disappearing down the hallway, not seeing Christina hiding next to the door, having heard most, if not all, of the conversation.